Railway-yard.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

G. H. KIMBALL.

RAILWAY YARD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1904.

2 BHEBTBSHEET l.

INVENTOB WITNESSES GEGBGE' H fT/MBALL- PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

G. H. KIMBALL.

RAILWAY YARD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lNVE/VTOR,

GEO/ Z65 H' HIMBALL W/T/YE-SSES NITED STATES Patented June 27, 1905.

GEORGE H. KIMBALL, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF THREE- F OURTHS TO E. F. KNIBLOE, R. L. ODONNEL, AND C. V. BRADLEY,

OF BUFFALO, NEWV YORK.

RAILWAY-YARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,080, dated June 27, 1905.

Application fil d November 21, 1904. Serial No. 233,671-

To a, 1117111112, 2 6 771/661] concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. KmiaALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at .Detroit, in the county of \Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Yards, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in railway-yards; and it consists in the construction of a railway-yard with a so-called hump" or incline, combined with a system of haulage by cable for bringing the cars up one side of the hump, so that they may be distributed by gravity upon the other side of the hump.

The invention further consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement, as more fully hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car designed to be used as the pusher and having means for engaging the cable. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the grip mechanism on the car, showing in :full and dotted lines the different positions of the grip and cable. Fig. e is a section on line 0* :r in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a plan of a section of the cable. Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the hump. Fig. 7 is a plan of the tracks and the hump. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section through the hump, showing the hoisting mechanism beneath the same. Fig. 9 is a vertical section through the hump to illustrate the conduit for the return-cable on line Y Y, Fig. 7.

At the present time railway-yards have been constructed having a double incline or hump arranged between the receiving and outgoing yards, and an ordinary locomotive is employed for pushing the cars up the hump on oneside, Where they are uncoupled and allowed to fall by gravity into the outgoing yard on the opposite side. This system is objectionable for a number of reasons, among which are that the locomotive is often inetiicient and sometimes quite useless when the tracks are badly iced, also because the signal for stopping and starting the train must be conveyed from some one on the hump to the engineer in the locomotive-cab, which in the case of a long train is quite a distance away from the beginningof the discharge of the cars, and also because of the expense and the comparative slowness of operations. By employing a car as a pusher and employing a hoisting apparatus in the shape of a cable running in the track, with means on this pushing-car for engaging the cable, I am able to overcome the difliculty heretofore existing, to considerably cheapen the cost of handling the cars, and to greatly increase the speed of operations.

A represents a hump in a railway-yard. The tracks at one end, (not shown,) for instance, (located at (3,) are the tracks in which the cars are received and which may be referred to as the receiving-yard. At the other end of the hump the tracks run into an outgoing yard D, (not shown,) in which may be the ordinary construction of tracks and switches. At the apex of the hump is a tower E, having suitable supports between or inside of the tracks and in which may be located the operator for tending the switches and for giving the signal to the man in the hoistingroom, which is indicated at F and is located below the hump. l have shown in this particular construction a hump having-four tracks 1, 2, 3, and et leading up from the receivingyard and down into the outgoing yard. I. have also shown on the hump suitable switchtracks 5, 6, 7, and b, so that cars from one track may be switched onto the other tracks either in coming up or going down. This forms no part of my invention, as it is ordinary track and switch construction.

in the hoisting-room F are suitable hoisting-engines G, with hoisting-drums for operating double cables, such as shown in Fig. 4:

and which I have lettered H. These cables are preferably endless cables and extend down into the receiving-yard, running over sheaves 10, located in the track, the upper faces of which are preferably slightly above the ties, as shown in Fig. 9, and the return-cable I preferably locate in the tunnel I. I have shown one tunnel for two tracks, and this is the preferable arrangement, and I also provide in the tunnel above the sheaves J, on which the cables run, a track J, on which the car K may run, so that an operator can pass through on this car and oil the bearings and make repairs when necessary.

The hauling-runs of the cables extend nearly or quite to the top of the hump and thence pass to the hoisting-drums, as shown in Fig. 6.

Suitable signal mechanism may run from the tower E into the hoisting-room F, and I have 'not deemed it necessary to indicate the same, as it may be of any desired construction, either a bell or an electric signal or any other kind of a device; but, if desired, the control of the engines may be made directly from the tower into the hoisting-room, so that the starting and stopping can be under the control of the man in the tower.

L is the pushing-car, having suitable means for gripping the cable. This car I have illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 as an ordinary flat-car having the usual couplers, tracks, &c., and provided on the under side with a vertical guideway M, in which is adapted to be reciprocated a hooked grip N. This guideway I have shownas braced by the brace O. The hooked grip, as shown, is simply a hook connected to the piston-rod P, which in turn is connected to the piston Q, in the cylinder R, which is provided with suitable means, preferably compressed air, for vertically reciprocating it.

The parts being thus constructed, the pusher-car is allowed to run by gravity into the yard, a train is made up in advance of the pusher-car, which is then brought onto the track having one of the elevating-cables, and the cable being in motion the hook N is lowered between the two strands of the cable H and into the path of one of the pins 8, which connects the cable at suitable intervals. The air is then admitted under the piston and the hook is raised into the guideway M, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that the thrust will be taken up by the brace on the car. The train in advance of the pusher-car will thus be moved up the incline, as shown in Fig. 6, and under the control of the operator in the tower can be stopped at the top of the incline, the car uncoupled, as shown at the right hand of Fig. 6, and by operating suitable switches allowed to run down the incline and onto the outgoing track.

Any other form of connection between the pusher-car and the cable may be employed; but I have simply shown one form which may be used. The various parts of my invention may also be modified in details such as would suggest themselves to an ordinary engineer without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is- 1 A railway-yard comprising receiving and outgoing yards and an interposed inclined hump, a main track leading up said incline, switching-tracks connecting therewith, a continuously-operating cable arranged in the path of said main track, a pushing-car, gripping means on the car for engaging said cable, and means for actuating said gripping means to engage and disengage said cable.

2. A railway-yard comprising receiving and outgoing yards and an interposed inclined hump, a main track leading up said incline, switching-tracks connecting therewith, a continuously-operating cable arranged in the path of said main track, a pushing-car, gripping means on the car for engaging said cable, and means for releasing the gripping means from the cable to allow said car to run by gravity back into the yard.

3. A railway-yard comprising receiving and outgoing yards, and an interposed double-inclined hump, a main track leading up one side of the incline, switching-tracks on the respective sides of the incline, a cable arranged in the path of said main track, means for continuously operating the same, a pushing-car, gripping means on the car for engaging said cable, and means for actuating said gripping means to release the samefrom the cable whereby said car is permitted to run by gravity back to the yard.

4. In a railway-yard, a doubleinclined hump, a continuously-driven cable leading up one side thereof to, at or near the top, a pushing-car having cable -gripp-ing means, and means on the car for actuating said gripping means to engage and disengage said cable.

5. A railway-yard comprising receivingand outgoing yards and an interposed inclined hump, a main track leading up said incline, switching-tracks connecting therewith, a continuously-operating cable arranged in the path of said main track, a pushing-car, gripping means on the car for engaging said cable, and means located within the hump for actuating said cable.

6. A railway-yard comprising receiving and outgoing yards and an inter-posed inclined hump, a main track leading up said incline, switching-tracks connecting there-with, a continuously-operating cable arranged in the path of said main track, a pushing-car, gripping means on the car for engaging said cable, and a tunnel arranged within the hump for the return-cable.

turn-cable, and a track arranged Within said tunnel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE H. KIMBALL. \Vitncsses:

1?. D. TRACY, GEO. L. MANSFIELD. 

